In its landmark 1976 decision Buckley v.Valeo, the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of laws aimed at “the prevention of corruption and the appearance of corruption spawned by the real or imagined coercive influence of large financial contributions on candidates’ positions and on their actions if elected to office.” … […] Read more »
Americans Say Creating Jobs Is Key to Improving Economy
As lawmakers in Washington focus on opening the government after the Oct. 1 partial shutdown, raising the debt limit, and debating the merits of the Affordable Care Act, Americans say creating jobs is the most important way for the federal government to improve the economy. These results are based on […] Read more »
Envy, Scorn and Shutdown
“Dysfunctional” is a word often applied to the federal government shutdown. If only we had a functional understanding of the causes of dysfunction. Many explanations offered point to the effects of increased income inequality on political institutions. But increased inequality may have even more direct effects, undermining trust and driving […] Read more »
The Last Days of the GOP
… Under pressure from grassroots radicals and the new outsider groups, the old Republican coalition is beginning to shatter. The single-issue and evangelical groups have been superseded by right-wing populist groups, which are generally identified with the Tea Party, although there is no single Tea Party organization. These groups can’t easily […] Read more »
Cruzification of the GOP
… At least so far, the standoff has been a political bloodbath for Republicans. And maybe that’s exactly what was needed to right the political system: The effort to gut Obamacare had to crash like this so that Republican leaders and lawmakers would find the courage to stand up to […] Read more »
Views of Gov’t Regulation Still Politically Polarized
The gulf between Republicans’ and Democrats’ views of government regulation of business has widened dramatically since 2007. Currently, almost three-quarters of Republicans say there is too much regulation, compared with one-quarter of Democrats. [cont.] Art Swift, Gallup Read more »